I Want to Break Free
by xCabooseRTRvB
Summary: PTX/Pentatonix! Hybrids and hunters have been pitted against each other for years. But, when Scott and the hunters hatch a plan to break into the hybrids' haven, it requires some serious intimacy with their leader, Mitch. After a few meetings, Scott's hooked. But will Mitch ever be? Thanks to turn-the-pages for being the co-author of this story, so go follow her!
1. Hybrid Meets Human

Another scout team was established for this week's supply run and Mitch had to make sure that they were fit and able to make the long and dangerous trek of the outside world. He was, of course, the leader of the supply run and he was not about to make the mistake of losing another hybrid to those dreadful humans. After making sure that everyone was able, he told them to change into the right clothing: black and dark blue of any sort. They parted to their respective houses and Mitch headed towards his to change as well.

Stopping at a fairly larger structure in the middle of the village, Mitch decided to enter and inform the others that he and his team were leaving soon. Mitch entered quietly and walked a few steps before hearing, "Oh, look, it's the kitty cat. Are you going to run away again like the true scaredy-cat you really are?" The remark irritated him and he turned around, looking up at the hybrid leaning against the railing on the second floor.

He glared at the smiling dog hybrid. "You done? Because you're bullshit joking is annoying." Mitch turned around and headed for the main room, seeing three people standing and conversing around one map in the center of the whole building. He tapped one of them on the shoulder. "We're about ready to go, just so you know."

The man nodded. "Alright, be careful." He placed a hand on Mitch's shoulder, but retracted his hand when he flinched.

"Always." Mitch half smiled at the man, pretending to ignore that he had flinched, and began to leave the building, the hybrid from before jumping down to the first floor and landing right next to Mitch. The building wasn't all that big - it had two stories - and the second story didn't have a center and only had chairs because this building was used for meetings and usually meetings included the entire village. The first floor had one big circular table in the middle to hold the leaders of the village when they had meetings, and also had other seats around the center table.

"Hey, c'mon Mitch-"

"Shouldn't you be changing? I swear, if you mess this up for the whole team you're bound to get someone killed," Mitch said angrily as they exited the building.

The dog hybrid stopped. "Says the guy who got Mary killed."

Mitch stopped walking and clenched his fists, deciding whether to punch the guy or shoot a remark right back at him. He decided on the latter. "At least I'm not the one who was close to being kicked out of the village for being a fucking idiot." The cat hybrid tried to calmly walk over to his house, ignoring any other comments from the dog hybrid.

"My dad's the king of this place! He wouldn't kick me out!" The dog hybrid growled. He went towards his house instead of following Mitch. _Yeah, sure, he wouldn't. Plus, his dad's not the king of this village, _Mitch thought.

Entering his house, he walked over to his wardrobe and searched for any black or dark blue clothing. He eventually found a plain black shirt, dark blue jeans, and his black leather jacket and changed into them, carefully wrapping his tail around his waist and pulling his jacket and shirt over his tail.

Heading out towards the main field, Mitch was stopped by a dragon hybrid. "Mitch?"

"Avi, if you're going to ask me about it, I told you no. You can't, it's too dangerous - you could get someone killed," Mitch answered, assuming he was asking about practicing his abilities in the forest somewhere near the village.

"No, it's not about that. Just..." Avi thought of his words carefully. "Be careful," Avi said, as if he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Well, you know my response."

Avi nodded. "If you don't come back, I'll replace you, but that's not gonna happen."

"I wouldn't know, but Jack's on the team so there'll be extra difficulty. Don't worry, though," Mitch assured. "We'll be back before you know it." Avi nodded once more and the group finally left for their supply run.

The group had split up into four groups to scout the big city of Los Angeles, even though they were scouting a small part of the city. There were two people in each group and sadly Mitch decided to be paired with Jack so the others didn't have to be stuck with a jerk and so they wouldn't get killed. The pair walked on the sidewalk casually, a thick tension between them and neither of them wanted to talk. Though they were walking without a care in the world, they still scouted the surrounding area and cautiously watched the other civilians; Mitch giving them a cold stare and Jack giving them smirks.

The cat hybrid's ears twitched under his hood and he stopped, silently watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary as Jack turned to him. "What's up?" Mitch shushed him immediately, even extending his hand out to make him shut his mouth. Jack went behind Mitch as they watched each other's backs, cautiously searching the area.

Catching a figure on the rooftop, Jack pointed towards it and Mitch looked over, nodding and pointing in the opposite direction towards an alleyway. "I'll go there and you go back to the village _after_ you find the others," he whispered and emphasized it on purpose, knowing that Jack would save himself rather than the whole team.

"I know - you don't have to tell me. You want to be the hero, be my guest. I ain't getting caught by those animals," he said, as if the humans were the hybrids. They counted off together and they both ran in separate directions to confuse the troops. Just as Mitch had planned, they were after him instead of Jack.

Running into the alley, Mitch could hear various shoes stomping onto the pavement and on the rooftops and hit a dead-end almost immediately. He simply jumped up on the walls of the nearby buildings without hesitation, like he's done it millions of times before, and continued to run once he got on the roof of one of the buildings, jumping from roof to roof. He stopped when he realized there were troops in front of him and when he was about to turn around, he saw that he was trapped. Smiling, he waved to the main officer and then he suddenly dropped down a hole in the middle of the roof, seeing it close up immediately after he'd fallen and he landed safely on the ground.

Even though darkness ruled this area, he could still see clearly and hear the soldiers shooting at the hole that sealed up on them. He walked through the building, "Hey Charles, you there?"

"_Whatcha want?"_ Charles asked through the ear piece Mitch had.

The cat hybrid looked around for a second and then continued to walk. "Just sayin' that it's about time you saved my ass."

_"I do it all the time! You just never notice."_ Charles sounded hurt at first, then playful. "_I mean, you barely need my help. I don't know why you even need me."_

"I'm not the one who wanted to put a guard on me twenty-four seven. Anyway, could you find me an escape route?" the cat hybrid asked.

"_Piece of cake._" Mitch could hear a few clicks on the other end. "_Uh oh."_

After his ears twitched at a slight noise, Mitch stopped and turned around. "That doesn't sound good." He could hear fast footsteps echoing and coming closer, and that's when he started running. "Charles, I need that escape route now!" He stopped running, seeing soldiers in front of him trying to light their surroundings and find what they were looking for. "Charles!" he said after a while.

_"I-I can't, your surrounded, but don't panic- I'll try to find a way out."_ The hybrid could hear rapid clicking and typing noises on the other end.

"Don't try, do it and will you hurry it up!" As the troops drew closer to Mitch, he started calming down -almost to a scary kind of calm.

"Surrender peacefully and no one has to get hurt!" the main officer yelled as the troops completely surrounded him.

Mitch smirked, not turning to the officer. "Yeah, right. That's what you tell every hybrid. Well, let me educate you for once, officer. You can go fuck yourself."

The officer's expression was furious. "I guess you want to do this the hard way, Mitch." It was more of a statement than a question.

He frowned at the comment. "Guess you hate suggestions, don't you?" He smirked once more and finally turned to face him. Taking off the hood, his dark brown ears popped up, relieved that they weren't being covered anymore, and he unwrapped his tail from his waist, waving to the officer again. All the lights turned off suddenly and the troops started firing rapidly at the spot that Mitch last stood.

"Hold your fire!" The officer yelled, but they couldn't hear him through the array of loud firing bullets, especially since the building kept the sound in instead of letting it roam freely through the walls.

Running right when the lights switched off, Mitch dodged the bullets they fired with ease, but then suddenly tumbled towards the ground when he something hit him and caught himself at the last second. As Charles guided him out of the building where none of the soldiers stood waiting at the front door, Mitch followed his instructions and soon exited the building, bursting through the door and closing it immediately. He faced the door and walked back a few steps, breathing heavily; the adrenaline was slowly fading away.

A jolt of pain coursed through him. He yelped in pain and clutched his right side. "_Mitch, are ya hit?"_ Charles asked, concerned.

"N-no... I'm fine." He winced as he tried to find the bullet wound and hissed as his finger grazed it. "Just... get me... to..." A few shaky breaths escaped him as he tried to talk, but then he fell to the ground.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The sight of shoes was the last thing Mitch saw before he blacked out.

Mitch jolted awake, but then fell back down at the sudden pain coursing through him. He looked around, wondering where he was at - a bedroom. But not his own. Everything in the bedroom was evenly spaced out, yet there was very little decoration in the room, and there was one window and door that were on opposite sides of the wall. He was on the far left of the room, facing the door and on a bed, hugging the left and back walls. There were two pictures on either side of the door, emitting happiness from both of the pictures. What caught his eye next was what laid on the night stand right next to the bed.

A picture with humans?

Sitting up, Mitch looked around furiously. "Charles?!" he yelled. His breaths started getting shorter and more frequent, then he took long deep breaths as he heard the familiar voice.

_"Mitch, calm down, you're safe. You're not dying, you're not imprisoned, and you're definitely not dead already. How ya doin' champ?"_

He chuckled at the quick change of subject while Charles was talking. "I feel like shit," the cat hybrid stated matter-of-factly. "Where am I?"

Mitch could hear shuffling on the other end. _"That's not really for me to say, it's his decision. You better be nice to him, he helped you enough already."_

"Who?" he asked curiously, completely forgetting that he was in what he assumed a human's house.

_"I don't know his name."_

"Okay, how long have I been out?" There was a long pause. "Charl-"

_"Two days."_ Eyes widening, Mitch sat there on the bed speechless. "_Mitch?_"

"WHAT?!" he yelled, louder than he expected, and cursed under his breath as his ears twitched when he heard something drop in the other room, just beyond the door.

_"Relax, you're safe."_

"How would you know, you're not even here."

There was a short pause as Mitch knew Charles tried to get the right words_. "Because he cared for you in the past two days. Didn't take you to a hospital because he somehow knew you were a hybrid at first sight and hybrids hate hospitals. He's got a personal doctor who swore not to tell that you were here and the doctor patched you up. Anyway, he somehow knows a lot about hybrids, so he could possibly be friendly."_

Mitch scoffed. "Charles, y'know 'friendly' and 'human' don't go in the same sentence."

_"How'd you know he was human?"_ Charles asked thoughtfully.

"Because you speak like he is, idiot. Plus, there's a picture in here with humans on it. Which reminds me..." He smirked as could hear a quick shuffle and he guessed that Charles took off his ear piece. "_What the fuck am I doing in a human's house?!" _ he said loudly, but not loud enough for the human to hear in the other room.

Charles put the ear piece back on. _"Never mind that, Mitch. Seriously, this guy is legit. He went out of his way to help someone in need, this is what the world needs - more people who are understanding and accepting."_

"He could be a hunter. Hasn't that crossed your mind?"

"If I had decided to kill you, in the first place, you'd be dead already." Mitch turned quickly to the side of the room where the door was located, oblivious to the fact that the human had come in already. How he didn't hear the human was beyond him. "Besides, we are trying to make peace with hybrids. We wouldn't want to hurt any of you," the human said, leaning on the door with his arms crossed over his chest and his sky blue eyes looking at the hybrid.

Mitch glared at the human. "Why'd you help me?"

"Because you looked helpless," he said, smirking at him.

"It was just a bullet wou-"

"Three bullet wounds, to be exact," The human interrupted. Mitch's eyes widened at the statement. "How you survived is beyond me. I'm Scott. You?" Scott asked politely.

There was a short pause as Mitch thought. "Coby."

Charles burst out into laughter. "_Coby?" _he questioned, laughing hysterically.

Mitch bit on his inner cheek - he was so going to kill Charles later. Scott looked skeptically at Mitch like he didn't believe that that was his name. The hybrid still glared at the human. "Alright, Coby." He said the name slowly, testing out the name.

The hybrid could tell that he didn't believe that it was his name. "What do you mean that you would kill me, if you wanted to?"

"I may not seem like it, but I'm just a citizen and by the way you're glaring at me, I'm guessing you thought I was a hunter," Scott told him.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm saying it was a joke. I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to." Mitch stared at him, still not convinced.

"Why didn't you? I mean two days and you're a human - you might as well have killed me on sight."

"Like I said, we're trying to make peace with hybrids."

Mitch snorts. "Peace? I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well, then I'll show you if show me where it is you've all been-"

"Oh hell no!" Mitch snapped at him and began to get up from the bed, ignoring the immense pain that shot throughout his body. "I'm leaving and you aren't following me."

"_That's right, Coby, you go girl_!" Charles mocked, laughing.

Before Mitch could leave, Scott grabbed the hybrid's arm and pulled him back onto the bed as Mitch fell back onto the soft pillows and sheets. "You're injured, I'm not letting you leave."

Anger filled Mitch immediately after Scott had grabbed him. "Well, you can't make me stay!" He sneered at the human. "And don't you ever touch me again!" The hybrid pointed at him and glared. He stood up once more and walked out, this time not being pulled back against of his own free will. He exited the building and told Charles to guide him to the village, making sure that Scott wasn't following him.

He wasn't.


	2. Into the Woods

Scott kicked the leg of the guest bed angrily a few minutes after 'Coby' had left, frustration with himself bubbling up in his chest.

"Damn," he hissed when his toe connected violently with the metal, hopping on one foot slightly.

"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," he said loudly, clenching his fists and staring out his window towards the nearby woods, where he knew Coby had gone. Why'd he have to grab him like that? Now he had absolutely no chance of getting on the inside, of blowing them all to smithereens.

Kevin was going to murder him. He needed to break out the tequila.

[{x}]

Scott walked into work the next morning tired, hung-over, and mean. He walked quickly over to the locker room and dumped his bag into locker 221, quickly changing into his bullet-proof vest and camouflage shirt and pants and stuffing the light blue tee and jeans he'd had on earlier into 221.

"Scott!"

Scott's gaze turned heavenward as a familiar voice called out to him. He turned slowly, forcing a smile. "Hey, Brian," he greeted. It was almost painful to pretend he was in a good mood.

Brian was a tall, gangly twenty-two year old, one year younger than Scott, with unruly black curls sprouting out of his head and who wouldn't stop talking about astronomy, of all things. The only other thing he talked about was his boyfriend, Freddie, who was nice, but too much of a good thing is just as bad.

"You have no idea what Freddie and I were up to last night!" Brian told him excitedly, opening up his own locker next to Scott's. Scott planned to just grab his hat and run while he still could, but of course he couldn't find the fucking thing. Brilliant.

Scott dragged his head towards the dark-haired man and raised an almost-nonexistent eyebrow. "Let me guess: You flew to the moon like Superman, had a picnic of chocolate-chip cookies and octopus, took a side trip to Mercury and gazed at the Sun, and then landed back here on Earth to cuddle by the fireplace and sing cheesy romantic songs to each other."

"No, we went to Venus, darling! Can't you get anything right?" Freddie called from across the room. Scott couldn't help but snort a little.

Brian shot his boyfriend a look before turning back to Scott. "No, we actually rode the ferris wheel at the carnival in town, you know, the one—"

"Yes!" Scott held his uncovered hat up in the air. "I mean, damn, I've got to go see Kevin. Sorry!"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. See you, Scott."Scott flashed him a grin before jogging to Kevin's office, but not before getting flicked in the face by Freddie on the way there, the little shit.

"Doofus!" Freddie said playfully as Scott passed.

"Midget!" Scott managed to call before slipping into the office, the grin on his face fading away when he saw the look on his boss's face.

[{x}]

"Scott, I thought I told you to get that hybrid and get friendly with him. But, you came into work today. Did you lose him or are you just stupid?" Kevin furrowed his brow, looking at Scott with a strange look of concern, frustration, and amusement.

Scott pressed his lips into a tight line, guilt etching itself clearly across his face. "Both, sir. I think I moved a little too fast."

"How so?"

Scott licked his lips, staring determinedly at the ground. "Almost immediately after he woke up, I was in his room. The conversation went something like: 'Where am I?'" Scott made his voice cartoonishly high-pitched. "'You're at my house. Would you like to show me where you live?' and then he started to leave and I grabbed his arm, but he just ripped himself away from me and told me not to touch him. I just let him leave after that."

Kevin sighed and leaned back in his high-backed chair, pressing two fingers against the bridge of his nose. "I thought it was Freddie's job to fuck up on your tag-team, Scott. You're the leader – you're not supposed to make mistakes someone two years younger than you would."

Scott nodded, trying to fight the smile that threatened to spread across his features at the thought of all the travesties Freddie had caused the little tag-team of four with his clumsiness and overall inexperience. "I understand. It's just, something about him—" Scott cut himself off, a sudden thought crossing his mind. "Can hybrids read minds?"

Kevin looked at him incredulously. "Not that we know of," he said after a short pause.

Scott let out a breath. "Well, it was like I couldn't think around him. I just blurted out whatever came to mind."

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "You need to learn to control yourself, then, because you and your little 'tag-team' are going into the woods for a week to try and find them, or one of them, or something, starting tomorrow. It's our only chance at finding them, and it's very slim."

A rush of horror shot through Scott like a bullet at the thought of his brand new, inexperienced, equivalent-of-a-baby tag-team going off into the woods. For a week. When they went on a weekend hunting trip for the first time, it had been equivalent to the apocalypse.

Okay, maybe it's time Scott explained the history of his tag-team.

He was fairly new to the company, Protectors of the Civilized World, one of the largest in America, but he was one of the best. He'd been hunting since he was eight years old with his dad before the man was killed by one of the hybrids he was hunting – a Dragon, they said. He'd joined the company, managed to work his way up to leader statues relatively quickly, and was able to leave his tag-team and create his own.

When you create a tag team, you choose from the interns that the boss has interviewed, judging by skill and what you can gather about their personalities. Scott doesn't quite know how he managed it, but he had picked the three most lazy, inexperienced, happy-go-lucky ding-heads in the selections.

First, there was Freddie, who was skinny as a twig and liked to watch TV too often. He had black hair and usually wore the craziest outfits Scott had ever seen, but he was forced to wear the uniform, thank God. He was clumsy and overall completely useless, but he was funny and was good at negotiations, so Scott had managed to convince Kevin to let him stay on the team. Scott had grown attached to the little fucker.

Amelia had come next, and she was feisty and tough, with flaming red hair and large eyes. When Scott first got her, she hadn't known how to shoot a gun, and she was mean to the other tag-team members and even Scott himself, only now it was more playful than mean. Scott had taught her a few lessons, and now she was one of the best shots in their garrison. Scott puffed up with pride at the thought.

Brian was the last one, and by far the worst. He was nerdy and skinny, and refused to tie his rather long, unruly black hair back and therefore given Scott the experience of getting whipped in the face by another man's hair. Scott was about to kick him off the team, due to his apparent lack of skill, but then Freddie decided to go and fall for the idiot and threatened to quit if Scott kicked Brian off. Scott couldn't make it without Freddie's incredible negotiation skills and his people-friendly nature, so he kept Brian, who proved himself to be a wiz at research. Who knew?

Scott was fair at all of these things, but he was best at tracking hybrids down and shooting them quickly. This was why he had been chosen to locate the nest. Reports and a lot of research on Brian's part had told them that Coby appeared to be the leader of the clan and went out on missions to rescue hybrids held captive, so it hadn't been hard to catch him.

"They'll do great," Scott said defensively when Kevin wished him good luck before he left the office. His boss snorted, and Scott was mildly offended. His tag-team wasn't that bad.

"Whatever, Scott," his boss said before the blonde closed the door behind him, revealing three people crouching around the door in the narrow hallway and causing them to scramble to their feet. One of them took a step closer to him.

Freddie looked up and gave him a grin that had been birthed by Lucifer himself. Scott held back a groan. "Why do I have you guys as a team?" he moaned as he started walking back down the hallway to the artillery, the others trailing behind him.

"Because you deserve us," Freddie answered nonchalantly.

He was fully aware of how sucky he was at shooting. He was aware.

[{x}]

Scott hiked up a particularly steep slope in the forest, his heavy gun slung over his back along with his backpack, full of supplies for the week-long stay in the forest. His pistol, pocket knife, and canteen all jingled at his belt, a blaring warning sign for any animals or hybrids that hunters were coming, a usual disaster for hunters. But, that wasn't why they were here – they were here to 'make peace'. Scott didn't blame Coby for scoffing at the whole thing. It wasn't even halfway true.

"I think I'm dying, Scott," Freddie called up from several feet behind Scott. Scott rolled his eyes at the younger man for what felt like the twentieth time in the last five minutes.

"I'll make sure to say nice things at your funeral," Scott told him, taking a swig of water. The Sun seemed to have something against them today.

"Thanks," Freddie said sarcastically. The others had remained silent around an hour in, too tired to do anything but walk, but nothing, nothing, would shut Freddie up.

Suddenly, Scott heard a snap to their right, and he froze, causing Brian to run right into his back. "What—"

"Shh." Scott put a finger to his lips and crept towards the direction the noise came from, a bit of movement from behind the leaves and branches catching his eye, sending a small thrill through him. He held his breath, an unconscious habit whenever something got suspenseful, and he took a few more steps towards the sound, motioning the rest of the team to stay where they were. He didn't need Brian's heavy gait to ruin everything.

He heard Freddie give a quiet groan when he noticed Scott's hand motion, but he followed the instructions, fully aware that he could cause some serious damage if he didn't.

It took around a minute for Scott to get through the branches and bushes without making any noise before popping out into a little clearing. The ground was covered in long grass and a few branches and twigs littered here and there. It was nothing special – but the person standing across him in the clearing caught his eye, surprising him.

"Not a hunter, eh?" Coby told Scott, crossing his arms and eyeing his gun and unmistakable uniform. Scott winced. They were supposed to change into civilians' clothing, acting like poor lost travelers that the hybrids would help and hopefully take them to the village, with pistols tucked under their waistbands.

Scott noted that Coby still had the once-clean bandages wrapped around his rib cage and left arm where the bullets had grazed him. They were now filthy with mud and grass stains, and Scott couldn't help but wince at the thought of a possible infection.

"Alright, I lied. I didn't want you to freak out when you found out." Coby raised an eyebrow. "Which obviously didn't work," Scott quickly added. "But I was telling the truth when I said we were trying to make peace. We're sick of fighting."

"Which explains the gigantic gun on your back," Coby said dryly, clearly unimpressed. Scott is momentarily distracted by Coby's tail, a dark brown, puffy thing that was swishing back a forth in obvious irritation. Coby noticed his staring and quickly stilled his tail, curling it around his waist and glaring at Scott, who blushed like a school girl.

"Just in case something went wrong," Scott explained off of the top of his head. "And besides, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's been lying."

Coby gave him a disbelieving look. "Lying about my name is not on the same level of importance as lying about your hunter statues," he snapped. Scott held his hands up.

"Okay, okay. I can agree with that. But, will you tell me your actual name? I mean, my secret's out." 'Well, at least one of them,' Scott thought.

Coby looked at him for a long time before saying, "Mitch. My name is Mitch."

Scott couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. "Now, that's a more fitting name. Nice to meet you, Mitch." He stuck out a hand – Mitch didn't take it. After a moment, Scott awkwardly dropped his hand to his side.

"I am not on good terms with you, Scott," Mitch spat his name out like it was some venomous insult. Scott had the crazy notion that everyone in Mitch's little secret village was walking around calling people 'Scott' like Scott would call people 'dickhead'. Scott pushed the thought aside and stood up straighter.

"You will be," he said determinedly. "Do you come here everyday?"

Mitch did say anything for a while, instead just studying Scott's face. Scott tried to clear away his thoughts from his face and replace them with innocence, but he was never a very good actor. "…Yes," Mitch finally said, a little hesitantly.

Scott grinned, relieved. "Can you meet me here tomorrow at two?"

Mitch pressed his lips together. "I'm going to regret this," he answered. Scott pumped his fist into the air.

"Awesome. I'll see you then—"

"Scott, how do you set up the te—WHOAH!"

Scott jumped at the sudden shout and turned towards the direction his team was in momentarily, before turning back to Mitch.

The cat-hybrid was gone.

Frustration filled Scott to the brim and he burst out with, "Freddie! You aren't even supposed to be setting up camp!"

Scott rolled his eyes when all he got in response was a quiet 'oh'. Great, now he had to apologize.

He hated to admit it, but Mitch was probably the most non-annoying thing he had experienced today.


	3. Untrusting

Silently walking to the village and making sure that Scott wasn't following, Mitch already regretted agreeing to meet Scott in the clearing tomorrow. There was something about the human that made him want to agree to everything he said. He shook his head, trying to get these absurd thoughts out of his mind.

Humans are evil and scheming. End of story.

He still wanted to meet Scott to get information from him somehow, though. He'd get information and see if they really wanted to make peace. Even if Scott did say they wanted to make peace and he really meant it, Mitch would never be convinced that humans are that generous or even honest. They would never want to make peace - they said so themselves.

Checking his surroundings one more time, Mitch jumped and caught hold of one of the lowest branches on a tree and pulled himself up, balancing his weight on the branch and making sure that it would hold him up without breaking. He scanned the area he had just come from and once he figured that no one, especially Scott, was following, he jumped from tree to tree in a specific pattern. He then landed onto the ground, arriving in a forest clearing.

This forest clearing was different than the one he was at earlier with Scott; it was bigger in size and it looked as if there was nothing in the middle of the clearing, even though the village was sitting right there. There was a thick cloud of mist covering most of the forest their village was located in and every time a human would come in, they would get confused and either direct themselves away from the city and be lost forever or take them back to the same place they were before. It was confusing to navigate your way through this forest in general - everything seemed to be the same. For hybrids, they could find their way around this forest without problem. While it would take a human forever to get out of the forest, a hybrid could make it from one side to the other in a bout a day.

That's why Mitch had picked this place to begin with. The mist never seemed to disappear and right where the village was, the mist was the thickest.

Mitch entered the village and ignored the looks and questions that the other hybrids asked and determinedly walked to the middle of the village. He hated it when everyone focused all their attention on him when he would come back from supply runs because he'd be the most hurt, and right now he hated it most of all, considering he'd been gone for two days.

"Well, if it isn't the little scaredy-cat coming back from the dead," Jack announced loudly, gaining the attention of more people. Mitch glared at him, knowing that he was going to murder Jack soon. Jack walked over to Mitch. "Glad you came back, I was just about to take your place as the new leader of the supply runs, and possibly even the clan," Jack whispered the last part to Mitch. Clapping a hand on his shoulder, not caring if the cat hybrid winced and gave him a death glare, Jack watched as others gathered closer. He smirked as the cat hybrid shrugged off his hand and growled at him. He raised his hands in defense. "Why don't you go say 'hi' to little ol' Kirstie for me?"

Mitch guessed he saw the bandages on his arm and chest and he angrily walked into the middle building. "Joseph, you have got to tame your son. Discipline him for once," he growled to one of the people who were conversing with each other, the same people who were conversing two days ago before he left for the supply run.

Hearing the doors open, Mitch turned to them and saw Avi come in. "Mitch, thank God you're alive!" Avi ran over and gave him a tight, quick hug, aware that Mitch didn't want to suffer in one of his bear hugs. Mitch was tense the entire time Avi hugged him and the dragon hybrid apologized immediately after. He wasn't tense because of the immense pain of the bullet wounds, even though those still hurt like a bitch.

"Glad to see you too," Mitch replied, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Could you go see if Kirstie is free? I gotta see her real quick."

"Did you get hurt?" Avi asked, examining Mitch for any broken bones, bruises, or something to that affect.

"Yeah, he got shot three times." Mitch heard a voice say behind him and glared to his left, assuming that's where the other hybrid was. He elbowed the person behind him and once he heard the groan that he was satisfied with, he turned back to Avi, acting as if nothing had happened.

Avi looked at Mitch questioningly. "Three bullets and you keep on chugging. Sometimes I wonder if you're even able to die."

Mitch shrugged. "Maybe I just have a great guardian angel." He patted the back of his hand on the hybrid's stomach, the one behind him, a little too hard.

He groaned again and clenched his stomach. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, because you're a dick," The cat hybrid responded as he started walking past Avi. "I'll just go check for myself. Charles," he referred to the one he elbowed, "go back to your post before something happens. Avi," the dragon hybrid looked up at the sound of his name, "watch the perimeter carefully and at every waking hour - we've got humans in the forest." The two nodded simultaneously and went to their respective places in the village; Charles went to a small house that held a few computers and Avi went to the village watchtower.

Walking into one of the other biggest buildings in the village, Mitch went to the front desk of the medic building. "Is Kirstie available?"

"Not at the moment, he's with a patient right now. I'm sorry, Mitch, but you'll have to wait." The woman monitoring the front area of the clinic informed him. She was small and didn't look old enough to be working, looking at about twelve years of age. She was one of the only other people in the village who was able to become a nurse and help Kirstie with taking care of all the hybrids who lived in the village. She was gentle and caring when it came to patching someone up and quiet when she needed to be, respecting others around her. Not to mention that she was one of the only dog hybrids that Mitch actually liked as a friend and who he could actually stand.

"That's fine, I'll come back later," Mitch replied and began to leave, before hearing familiar heels hitting the floor just down the hall on the other side of the room.

Turning around, he smirked and saw Kirstie. "Mitchell Coby Grassi!" She yelled, not caring if it echoed off the walls and woke up any cat hybrid sleeping in their beds. "You're not allowed to scare the crap outta me like that!" she complained, walking up to him. Kirstie then went to a whisper that was so low only a cat hybrid could hear, "I thought you died."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are, and I am patching you up before you hurt yourself more with those pathetically made bandages of yours. Look, they're all filthy - you could die from this! I hope you're aware of that." Mitch slightly nodded and tried not to utter a laugh since she insulted the poorly-made bandages, which probably meant that whatever doctor Scott had gotten was inexperienced, because it was not possible for Kirstie to be inexperienced in anything relating to a doctor. She had taught herself how to do surgery, for Pete's sake! She knew the human and hybrid body inside and out, which shows that she knew how to kill you easily, that is, if she wanted to.

Kirstie carefully gripped Mitch's hand, which eased him just a tiny bit since she was so gentle, and they walked towards one of the empty rooms. While they were strolling through what seemed like endless hallways of doors, Mitch recognized that the structure of this building was similar to that of an actual hospital. Doors in a line and a maze of corridors making right and left turns that could take you hours to find your way out.

Though the building was small to that of an ordinary two story house, it felt like years until they arrived at an empty room. Kirstie took out a ring of at least ten keys and picked out the right one, sticking it into its slot and turning the key to open the door. "Just sit down on the bed. I need to get the bandages anyway. I'll be right back, don't worry," She advised thoughtfully and left the room, leaving him to his own thoughts when he sat down.

His thoughts immediately moved to Scott and he kept wondering why Scott wanted to meet him, but he guessed that he just wanted to talk about 'making peace'. Ridiculous. Humans would never want peace; they want war and destruction. Though, when Scott had asked him, he just couldn't say no, especially when he saw the hopefulness in those blue eyes. Eyes that he could get lost in-

Mitch shook his head; he was not about to think about Scott like that, especially since he's a human. He looked up to see Kirstie rolling a cart with various bandages, cloths and ointments and she stopped right next to the foot of the bed and closed the door softly. "Okay, shirt off. I'll try to do this quickly. I know how much you hate it." She walked over to a bucket in the corner filled with clean water, cleaning her hands and then wiping them. She turned to Mitch and gave him a sympathetic look. "You just can't stop, can you?"

"Can't stop what?"

"Everything that you're doing." She slowly and delicately took off the bandage and cleaned the wound. "Leading this village?"

The cat hybrid gave the bird hybrid a disbelieving look, "If I don't lead, then-"

She waved away his words. "Then this village will go into chaos. Yada, yada. I get that you want to protect these people, but you have to learn how to stop, take a break, and let the others take control for once. Like Avi, I don't know." After cleaning the wound, she started patching it back up.

"Avi doesn't know what's out there. He doesn't know what the humans are like. I'm not going to give him the duties of being the leader on supply runs."

Kirstie sighed. "What about Jack, then?"

"Are you crazy? He's going to get everyone killed!" Mitch exclaimed, standing up.

Kirstie pushed lightly on his shoulder to make him sit down and he complied. "He may seem like an idiot-"

"He is."

"But, he's done good by you and he hasn't ignored your instructions, has he?" Now that he thinks about it, Jack never disobeyed his orders when they were on supply runs together and never once questioned his decisions about it, he just agreed immediately. "His loyalty is to the hybrids and to them only. He would do anything to keep hybrids safe." Kirstie finally finished putting on the bandage. "You don't need stitches, by the way, because there's a more of a chance that you'd get an infection if you got them. I think you're better off without them because you always like the woods and when you come back you're usually filthy."

Putting on his shirt, he thanked the bird hybrid and waved at her, hurrying to get away from the conversation they were having and the building that made him feel uncomfortable. He hated to admit it, but she was right. He was getting exhausted leading and someone needed to replace him, though he wouldn't trust anyone else with leading the supply runs, so he'll just go on those while the others lead the clan to a more promised future than he would ever think to lead them. He arrived at home and decided to turn in for the day.

The next morning Mitch was checking the perimeter of the village, making sure that neither Scott nor his allies ever got close to the village. Thankfully, he didn't see any tracks and so he decided to go back to the village to rest up before he went to see Scott in the forest clearing. Mitch looked at the time - it was almost twelve. How long had he been searching for tracks?

He shrugged it off and walked over to the watchtower, looking up. "Avi!" he half-shouted. He waited patiently for his friend's head to poke out from the top of the watchtower, which wasn't as big as a human-made watchtower.

Poking his head out, Avi looked down at Mitch. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Did you see anything last night?" Seeing Avi shake his head relieved Mitch and he nodded. "Okay, good. Hopefully it stays that way," Mitch stated. "Alright, well, I'm gonna check the rest of the village." Avi nodded and retracted his head from view. Mitch started walking away to check on all the other buildings.

After he finished with making sure that everything in the village was in working order, he realized that Kirstie was right, he did need to get away from being leader. He was exhausted, yet he was only talking to the hybrids in the village. He really needed to pace himself. Checking the time, he saw that it was one thirty. Thirty more minutes until he had to meet Scott. He figured that he might as well go now, so he wouldn't find something else to do and be late.

Stepping into the forest clearing, Mitch didn't see anyone so he assumed that he was early and inspected the black watch he had. 2:03. He was late and so was Scott. The cat hybrid's ears twitched and he turned to his right, quietly approaching the bundle of branches and bushes. Mitch's ears perked up as he noticed the flash of blonde hair and he stood up straight, taking a few steps back and waiting for the human to show himself.

"Are you done?" Mitch rhetorically asked after about a minute.

Scott finally came out of the shrubbery, revealing him in normal clothes rather than his uniform. "Hey."

"Hi," Mitch said, crossing his arms.

"I'm surprised that you actually came. I thought you hated my guts."

"I do," The hybrid simply said. "Why'd you want to meet with me?"

Scott refrained from looking at Mitch directly in the eyes, answering, "Because I wanted to negotiate." Mitch looked at him, suspicious, since Scott didn't answer right away.

"Uh-huh," he said skeptically.

"What do you want from me? We, humans, just want to make peace." Mitch shook his head in disapproval, obviously not buying whatever Scott was trying to bargain. "Seriously, we are! Take it into consideration."

Mitch knew he had to end this war and keep the humans from killing any more hybrids. He didn't want to just end the war right off the bat, he wanted to humiliate the humans since they've basically been putting hybrids in extinction. So, he decided what he was going to do. It wasn't much, but it would be a start. He smirked evilly and answered thoughtfully, "I want your surrender."


	4. Grand Illusion

Scott felt like he'd been punched in the stomach as soon as the words left Mitch's lips. Surrender? Over his dead body.

Scott was just about to say as much before he caught himself, remembering that he had a façade to keep up. "We aren't going to surrender," Scott started, picking his words carefully, "because we don't want an enemy to surrender to. We just want to leave this whole thing behind us. We just want peace, Mitch." Scott tried to put as much honesty and passion into his expression, trying desperately to ignore the fact that he sounded like he'd come straight out of an eighties movie. 'God, Freddie would have been so much better at this,' Scott thought to himself as he watched different expressions flit across Mitch's face. The team's – christened 'Team Absolutely-Amazing' by the one and only Freddie – negotiator was able to act as well as Leonardo DiCaprio.

Mitch's ears were pressed flat against his head, and Scott was reminded with a jolt that he was talking to a hybrid, one of the creatures who had killed his father. Instant disgust filled him, and the guilt that had been rising up in his stomach faded away quickly.

"There are no strings attached, Mitch," Scott told the cat-hybrid with new resolve. Mitch narrowed his eyes at him, like he was lying or something. Which he was, but Mitch didn't know that.

Geez, Scott needed to step up his game.

"Yeah, right," Mitch snorted, "and I'm Harry Potter."

"But there aren't," Scott said, nearly begging. He was disgusted at himself, but it needed to be done.

Mitch's unimpressed expression suddenly morphed into one of anger. He suddenly went up to Scott, who flinched. "Now, listen here," he growled. "I am taking none of your shit, you got me? Because I am sick of hearing your whiny little voice telling me things that are impossible are going to happen. So, I want you to just walk away. Don't come back."

Scott stood, frozen, and watched Mitch turn on his heel and start to leave the clearing, heading east. Just as Mitch had reached the edge of their little meeting place, a sudden, stupid idea lit up in Scott's head. It was dumb, yes, and unlikely to work, but it was all he had. All he needed to do was play the mystery card.

"Wait!" he said, reaching out a hand as if to grab Mitch and physically pull him back. Almost as if against his will, Mitch turned slightly.

"What?" he asked harshly.

"I have something that'll prove it to you. Just meet me here tomorrow, at the same time. Please."

"What is it?"

Scott smirked. "Ah, but I have to have something to draw you in. Something that will guarantee that you will be here."

Scott had Mitch pegged as the type of guy who needed to know everything, no matter the cost. He hoped he was right.

There was a small stretch of silence as Mitch stared at the ground, biting his lip. Suddenly, he looked up, his eyes boring straight into Scott's. Scott found himself getting lost in the intense gaze. "Maybe," Mitch said quietly. "Maybe."

Scott couldn't help the grin that crossed his face, and blamed it on the prospect that he had another chance to get to the village. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to see Mitch again, no way. There was no way he liked a hybrid.

"Great," he said, but Mitch was already gone. Scott stamped his foot. "Damn it!"

[{x}]

Scott finally found his way back to camp after a half an hour, panting with exertion, all thanks to Freddie's loud voice carrying over the tree tops. This was probably the first time it had come in useful.

Note to self: Don't invite Freddie on long hunting trips.

Scott tromped over to the cluster of three tents – he and Amelia got their own, Brian and Freddie preferred to share, the damn lovebirds – and flung his backpack down. He was still wearing his civilian's clothing, which was soaked with sweat and covered with dirt from where he'd fallen and scrambled around on that one creek bed. He felt disgusting.

Brian smiled briefly at him from where the rest of the team was gathered around their makeshift fire pit, where they were holding hotdogs stabbed on sticks over the flames. Amelia held out a stick to Scott as he made his way over to them, picking his way over discarded bags and supplies. Scott took it gratefully, stabbing a hotdog on it and sticking it over the fire.

"So," he said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "What have you guys been doing to make yourselves useful?"

Amelia immediately perked up, answering him quickly. "Well, Brian and I gathered up firewood and leaves to start a fire. Freddie was supposed to pick up camp, but you can see how that went." Scott observed the campsite – with plenty of dirty clothes, supplies, and bags littering the ground and spilling out of tents, the site was as dirty as when Scott had left earlier that morning, determined to find the clearing in time.

"At least you didn't give him an important job," Scott told her. "I have taught you well." Amelia smirked at Freddie, who had burst out with a sharp "hey!'". Scott suddenly turned towards the youngest member of the tag-team, serious. "Actually, I do have a pretty important job for you, Freddie. I need your skills of persuasion."

Freddie cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah?"

"Mitch is being difficult. I need someone who can back me up on this whole 'making peace' thing. It's so ridiculous, I don't know how we're going to pull it off. He might not even show up this time."

Freddie laughed and nodded at his leader, grinning. "Taking drastic measures now, darling?" he asked Scott, smiling to reassure the blond that he was kidding. Scott twitched the corners of his lips up slightly, taking his food off of the fire and taking a bite. They didn't have the time to enjoy luxuries such as buns.

"Thanks, Fred," Scott said, affection for his tag-team swelling. He fucking loved those jerks. Freddie dramatically winced, and pressed the back of his hands to his forehead, leaning into his boyfriend, who rolled his eyes.

"How could you call me such a name, Scott?" he moaned, pretending to sob in anguish. Scott just let out a huff of laughter, visibly relaxing.

"Could you shut up for five minutes, Freddie?" Amelia asked loudly, pulling her bright red hair over one shoulder, raising a delicate eyebrow. Freddie waggled his eyebrows.

"I do, occasionally." He sent a meaningful look at Brian. The whole tag-team pretended to gag as the two proceeded to kiss. Scott snapped his fingers, getting impatient with the younger man. Freddie was useful, yes, but sometimes he was so difficult Scott wondered if he was even worth it.

"So, you need to come with me tomorrow when I possibly meet Mitch."

Freddie turned towards him, frowning slightly. "Don't you think he might possibly freak out if you bring somebody else with you?"

Scott bit his lip. "Well, I can't think of anything else. Desperate times call for desperate measures," he stated. Amelia snorted.

"Super reassuring, Scott, great job," she said sarcastically.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I give up on you guys." He threw his hands up in the air before pointing towards the woods. "We need more firewood. Guess whose turn it is to actually do some work?" Everyone sent a pointed look at Freddie, who shifted in his spot before standing.

"Fine," Freddie groaned, before wandering off into the woods. Brian cast an anxious look up at the darkening sky. He quickly stood, hurrying after his boyfriend.

"Wait, I'll go with you Freddie! It's getting dark!"

As soon as he was gone, Amelia and Scott were left in a comfortable silence. "So," Amelia said, turning towards the blond. "Some peace. Finally."

Scott smiled, looking up at the sky. Stars were beginning to make themselves visible against the dark blue. "It's not often we can get away from the lovebirds." She frowned at the ground, shifting a little bit before looking at him.

"Sometimes I wonder what it's like to have someone worry about you like that. Someone who wants to protect you like that."

"You have us, Amelia. Don't forget that."

"I know, but I—" She sighed. "I guess I mean someone to love."

Scott grimaced at tried to hold the sudden montage of Mitch images that flashed through his mind. "I get ya."

They drifted into another comfortable silence and sat together for another half hour, before they heard a scream to the left and ran to go and rescue Freddie from the raccoon he'd run into.

[{x}]

"This," Freddie panted from just behind Scott. "This is way to hot to be called October."

Scott plucked at his sweat-soaked t-shirt, keeping his eyes forward and doing his best to not collapse. "I know. But, we're almost there, so just keep going."

"I don't know if I can."

They continued in silence – a rare occurrence, seeing as Freddie was on this journey – until they finally reached the clearing, Scott patting a tree trunk and announced that they'd arrived. Freddie immediately sat down on the ground, shedding his yellow jacket and leaning back on his hands. Scott remained standing for around five minutes before joining him, realizing that they were actually about half an hour early. He avoided telling Freddie this, wanting to dodge any more whining or complaining as long as he could.

Around five minutes of just listening to various birds and bugs chirp, Freddie suddenly spoke, his voice quiet. "You know, I don't think—" he suddenly cut himself off and returned to staring at the tree tops.

Scott turned towards the younger man, his curiosity spiking. "What?"

"Never mind."

"Just tell me before I have to order you."

Freddie glared at him before saying. "I don't… I don't think that we're doing the right thing."

Scott snorted. "What, making peace? Freddie, it's all a façade."

Freddie turned towards him now, eyebrows furrowed in what could have been concern or confusion. "That's what I think is wrong. Why are we even killing these people in the first place? What's the point?"

Scott stared at his companion, shocked. "Because they kill us."

"Humans kill each other all the time. Scott, we fucking hunt them like they're animals—"

"They're half ani—"

"And half human. Look, maybe I'm wrong, but, I don't know if I want to do this, Scott. I'll persuade him, sure, I'm still on your side, but I – I can't kill them. I never have and I really don't plan to."

They lapsed into another silence. Scott mulled over Freddie's words, rolling them around in his mind, trying to avoid seeing the undeniable truth in them.

'Think of Dad, think of Dad, think of Dad,' he thought desperately. 'You might lose your job if you think like this. Remember that girl from a couple years ago? Esther? Yeah, who knows what happened to her. You've gotta keep Freddie form having the same fate. You'd be failing Dad.'

"Scott?" Freddie said hesitantly, interrupting Scott's spiral into insanity. Freddie laughed. "I feel like I'm coming out to my parents all over again."

"Have you told anyone else this stuff?" Scott asked suddenly. Freddie nodded after a few seconds.

"Brian. He agrees with me – but, don't fire him. Just fire me if you're going to—"

"No," Scott interjected. "I wouldn't ever fire you, or tell Kevin, or grudge you for this. I've—I've actually been having some similar thoughts, to be honest."

The relief on Freddie's face almost made Scott cry. He really thought Scott would fire him?

"You have to keep it from Amelia though," Freddie said. "She'll tell Kevin if you tell her."

Scott nodded. "Freddie, I need to tell you that I li—"

A rustle in the bushes cut him off, and Mitch appeared seemingly out of nowhere, freezing when he spotted Freddie sitting on the ground across from him. Freddie quickly stood, tugging his jacket back on, and smiled so charmingly Scott wanted to applaud. "Hi, I'm Freddie."

Mitch seemed to regain his bearing all to fast. "Mitch." He then looked at Scott. "I suppose this is that something you were talking about?"

Freddie looked at Scott, giving him a mock-offended look. "Something? I don't qualify as a someone?"

Mitch took a step closer, raising one eyebrow. Scott tried not to think about how perfectly sculpted it was. "Alright, so, get started. This had better be good."


End file.
